Voter ID idea:

Give poll workers photos of potential voters before voting starts.

Electronic photos are already stored by the state for most eligible voters, in the form of their driver's license photo or state-issued personal ID photo. WisDOT has, or will soon obtain, a photo of most voting age adults in Wisconsin.

Thumbnail versions of these photos could be included in the statewide voter registration database currently being developed and viewed online or printed out for use by poll workers on Election Day. Photos for an entire ward, about 2,000 images on average, could be printed on 20 sheets of paper or less. Poll lists with black-and-white photos would be easy to handle and cost less than $2 per ward to print. Polling locations with Internet access could view thumbnail photos online for free.

On Election Day, voters could:

1. present a photo ID;
2. ask a poll worker to check the DOT thumbnail photos for their picture; or
3. pose for a quick snapshot if other methods cannot confirm their identity - and then vote.

The disposable cameras used to take the snapshots could be stored with the used ballots and other election materials. The film would be developed if there was a credible allegation of fraud. If there was no challenge it would be destroyed at the same time the ballots routinely are.

Mark Grebner, owner of Wisconsin Voter Lists and a national authority on voter data, says pre-printed photos would guard against voter fraud without creating barriers to participation.

"It's hard to imagine a more effective deterrent to fraud than requiring a voter who can't produce an ID or isn't in the DOT file to leave his or her photo with the local election officials. Yet voting would remain convenient and accessible to everyone. The cost for the disposable cameras should not be more than $20 per ward, or perhaps $50,000 statewide," said Grebner.

"Republicans demand better ballot security while Democrats are worried about interference with low income or transient voters' access to the polls. There isn't necessarily any conflict if both sides will abandon their old ways of looking at the issue and consider new approaches," said Grebner.